Asparagus and Summer Greens

Seasonal foods are always fun to incorporate into a meal. The asparagus is available in abundance right now, as our area is known for supplying fresh asparagus to the nation. Our salad course utilized this yummy spring vegetable and salad greens. The idea for this salad came from a food show on the Fine Living channel. Although my version no longer retains the integrity of the original, I give it credit still.

Cook fresh asparagus until tender-crisp (3 - 4 minutes)

Place spears on salad plate. Then add a layer of fresh salad greens, making sure each end of the asparagus is visible. If using commercial salad mix, find a selection with variety in color. I used one with radicchio, as I thought the purple color a pretty accent.

Decorate with yellow and orange pepper strips, green onion, English cucumber slices, and grape tomato halves. Sprinkle with crumbled tofu (or feta).

Drizzle with a homemade dressing:

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice from two lemons
1 Tbsp. Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
2 garlic cloves, pressed
dash of sea salt
1 - 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Stir mixture until well emulsified before drizzling over salad.

Complete garnish with a large spring of parsley.

*I served this with an adaptation of Karina's Irish Soda Bread with caraway seeds and golden raisins. Amazingly, the gluten-free version turned out very well.